Jerry McIntire

Wendy Smith Novick wrote: My other suggestion is to use the weather. I try and do most of my shoveling after a good rain of at all possible or the very least get my shoveling done before July.

Wendy's suggestion here is the simplest way to make the job easier, in my experience. Wait for rain, or simply water the area where you plan to dig. That's why we save all that rainwater, right?

I'll second the "sharpen your shovel" advice, and the use of a rock bar when it comes to prying them out. Saves many a shovel blade and handle.

paul wheaton wrote:I was reading something recently suggesting a clothes dryer from real goods.  I looked .... it looked really lame and really expensive. 

I've been using a clothes drying rack indoors and outdoors for a few years now that I got from ikea.  A quick search shows that they appear to not sell it anymore. 

In the summer we have a line outside. In rainy and cold times we use a large rack indoors that is Amish made. The basement doesn't smell good, so we dry in our living room now. 12 hours or so in winter when it's dry inside. Here is the rack, small and large sizes. I know we paid much less buying one locally. https://www.lehmans.com/product/premium-floor-clothes-dryers-large/  When they say solidly built, it's an understatement.

The Amish in Wisconsin, where we lived last, always dried laundry outdoors year 'round. A nice line on two pulleys enabled the women to hang laundry from the back porch, rotating the line until it was full. There are pictures and pulleys for sale here: https://www.skylineclotheslines.com/

20 uses for wood ash, from a homesteader. Several of them involve cleaning, including teeth (but not the ash from conifers), metal and glass. Also deodorizing, which sounds like cleaning to me.

https://www.newlifeonahomestead.com/20-uses-wood-ash-homestead/

This one deserves its own thread! Thanks

"Don't shovel when the ground is hard. Soften it if you have to with water."

Travis Johnson wrote: Full synethic oil is always worth the extra cost. It has everything that is required, and nothing that doesn't unlike mineral oil that has contaminants by its very natural make up

Because of the two reasons above, I seldom change my oil; my equipment is old and still functioning, my cars go to 250,000 miles, and I am not wasting money on oil changes. Run full synthetic oil, check it often, and keep the oil full and the engine will be sounds for years and years.

Yes, true synthetic oil is a great thing. I have done oil analysis after 25,000 miles and it indicated the oil was still good. Note that most Mobil 1 is no longer full synthetic, only their most expensive version is. Travis, do you change the filter on your vehicles or just keep adding oil as needed? No oil changes in 250,000 miles sounds brilliant if true.

Hi Tamara, if you haven't met them already you ought to visit the Water's Edge nursery at The Draw, near Bayfield, WI. The owners are friendly, always ready to share knowledge, and have a well-established permaculture homestead. Their nursery plants are the best. Water's Edge & The Draw

Jerry

Have you seen the T structures at City Repair in PDX? They are portable, sometimes small, sometimes big. http://www.cityrepair.org/thorse-mobile/


Unfortunately lots of (mostly synthetic) carpet is tossed. You could find some in Missoula.

The Perfect Rug has some reasonable prices on wool rugs and they make them any size you want. We had some made for our tiny liveaboard boat.

Phil Stevens wrote:If you want the coating to breathe and not trap water vapour in the straw then I would avoid portland cement.

I agree with Phil. Avoid Portland cement for your application, to keep the breatheability and to keep the cost ($ and embodied energy) down.

Many whitewash recipes posted. I used the simplest one on my house in Wisconsin and it stood up well, no mold or sloughing off in the rain. That was over six years. I used two coats. I don't see the need for lots of salt. Wood ash, that sounds like a cheap/free additive. Fly ash can be hard to source.

My recipe: cheap ag hydrated lime from the local feed store, water, and a bit of salt-- much less than a cup per five gallon bucket. I looked up the water:lime ratio. I used one part lime to eight parts water by volume. This isn't critical. The first coat can be more dilute, 1:16 (good for first coat). Thicker coats can be 1:6 if you want, and if you can still spray it.

I like the sprayer idea. A mud/texture sprayer would do it if you don't want to run whitewash through your Wagner airless.

Pearl Sutton wrote:Jerry McIntire:
Thank you for the citrusinthesnow link!
...Have a great day sir, and put me on your prayer list please :D

You're welcome.

I don't know of any PUR SIP makers who have the steel skins available. There is one in Florida that makes magnesium board skins which are mold-proof and don't need sheetrock.

Glad to!

Jerry

Pearl, you may have already considered SIPs with polyurethane foam instead of EPS (which is what the R-values you list indicate). PUR foam has greater R value, is structural, and does not need any (toxic) flame retardants added to the foam. It costs a little more, or course, and there are fewer SIP makers who use it. There is one in Indiana, Florida, and in Colorado.

Have you looked at citrusinthesnow.com for greenhouse ideas? It's my favorite at this point, and is in a slightly colder climate than your have.

I hope it all comes together soon for you. Thanks for sharing such detailed plans!